Oil time.

Yep, they gotta have maintenance, just like anything mechanical.  It's about my least favorite task - ugh.

That's a lot of work you have ahead of you!

-Greg

I try to do them a bit at a time, two or three a week.  I keep a list and just work through it.  Clean the wheels, check them out, lube them and run them for at least 10 minutes, even if they stay on the shelf most of the time.

 

I suppose it is more efficient to do all of the them in one big effort, production-line like, as you do.

Lee after our open house it's time to go over all of them.

 Thy got good amount of run time on them.

 

Lemme guess,,,,Pennzoil? 

 

Bruce

"Seems like [OIL] Times....." - (with apologies to Carmen Lombardo!)

 I have run the hell out of them pulling Long fright and passenger car consists.

 

Sounds scary. What kind of fright cars do you run? I only run fright trains on Halloween. 

There is no way I could do mine all at one time.  I just couldn't sit still for that long of a time.  I set up a maintenance schedule a couple of years ago and perform the needed maintenance on an incremental basis.  I keep an accurate log as to exactly what type of maintenance was performed on each engine or piece of rolling stock.  I find it much more convenient to handle it this way.  

Well we run coal train that's 50 cars and a box car mix of about 40 cars.

 We oiled all the box cars,flat cars the Covered hoppers,and about 30 cabooses.

     Well this is not all the engines just the ones that are run allot. 

I Do the rolling stock about every 6 months everyone here uses them.

 It makes it easer on the club members to use the cars I have here. 

Oh...weathered!  When I saw the top photo, it looked like my junkbox, which has a lot

less in it, however, and then I expected to read everything had gotten soaked in oil, from some crankcase spill in the garage, or whatever...Cleaning THAT up would have

been more tedious than the usual maintenance procedure.

""Seems like OIL Times....." - (with apologies to Carmen Lombardo!)"

 

Or maybe Guy Lombardo.

.....

Dennis

Dennis:

 

Brother Carmen actually composed the song, and Guy made it famous by singing it!   

Nice fleet Harry!

 

Brad

Are your locos sitting on the new Fruit Salad pattern Homasote?

He'd be there a year if he oils everything that's on the shelves!

 

"Brother Carmen actually composed the song, and Guy made it famous by singing it!"

---

 

I don't remember Guy eve singing it.  I just remember his band warbling it.

.....

Dennis

 

 

.....

Dennis

I don't collect my engines en masse to service them.  I just drive them onto my workbench using my maintenance spur one at a time.

 

 

Sure Dennis, but doesn't that get in the way when you want to do something else on the workbench?

 

Nope.  It's hinged and lifts up out of the way.  Unfortunately I don't have a photo of it up.

.....

Dennis

I figured it had to be removable, hinging it is a good option.

That is quite ingenious, Dennis.  I love it!    Pull 'em right into the service bay.  That makes it almost fun, eh?

Very Nice Dennis!

 

If I decide to cut some holes in the walls to get access to the other room on the second floor, that was going to be my idea also but with a slight twist, it will come in at a higher level that is permanent, then I can bring it down do any work on a lower test track.

 

But thinking about maybe just a low level that is below the table top and can just slide or drop in a cover piece when working on other things that do not use the track.

You really need the locomotives and cars to roll over on their backs and be ready for oiling.

 

John, that's not as funny as you think. It has been in my brain blueprint room for some time.  I figure to add a rotating place in the last 30 inches or so, have clamps that swing up to hold the engine in place, then roll it over still staying on the track.  That is why I built that part of the track with open ties, i.e. no plywood under the track.  If I need more open space to get the oil spout and grease applicator through, I'll just remove a few ties. 

.....

Dennis

It was only have a joke, it would be pretty cool.

 

Lubrication, like track cleaning, is too often obsessively overdone; more than likely, LESS is more! 

HArry

like your approach and do all the annual maintenance at once, Nice activity especially with the brutally cold Feb we have just endured

Steve

That's one thing I hate is clean rolling stock wheels.  As I rotate them in for Kadee conversion I clean the wheels then.  For what happens after that who knows.  Engines get lubed and clean as they develop squeaks